The Great Wall Asset Management Company recovered an accumulated 26.77 billion yuan (3.3 billion U.S. dollars) in cash from the non-performing loans it held by the end of 2005, its president said.

President Wang Xingyi said Friday the company had "overfulfilled the cash-recovering mission assigned by the State Council," China's cabinet, one year ahead of time.

The company had disposed of non-performing assets totaling 253.6 billion yuan by the end of last year.

It was set up in 1999 to manage 345.8 billion yuan in problem loans largely transferred from the Agricultural Bank of China in a sweeping banking reform.

The combined amount of non-performing loans from the Big Four state banks including the Agricultural Bank was as much as 1.4 trillion yuan.

Wang said his company will take new measures to manage doubtful loan assets, on a commercial basis, to provide an impetus to the current round of economic restructuring.

Source: Xinhua